{"id":640,"date":"2011-07-12T21:15:00","date_gmt":"2011-07-13T02:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnstrawn.com\/?p=640"},"modified":"2011-11-07T14:09:19","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T19:09:19","slug":"reviewoftheswinger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/golf\/personalities\/640\/reviewoftheswinger","title":{"rendered":"Review of “The Swinger”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Swinger<\/em> is the kind of novel the French call a roman \u00e0 clef.<\/em> A literary strategy designed to pillory real people by creating characters whose identities have been disguised just enough to give the author\u2014or in this case, authors\u2014plausible deniability, the roman \u00e0 clef<\/em> has long been used to settle scores, or to provide an insider\u2019s view of well-known events.<\/p>\n

The roman \u00e0 clef<\/em> is a kind of literary push poll.\u00a0 Joe Klein\u2019s Primary Colors<\/em> was a roman \u00e0 clef<\/em>, skewering an imaginary Bill Clinton on the campaign trail, while Robert Harris\u2019 The Ghost<\/em>, the basis for the film \u201cThe Ghostwriter,\u201d was the literary evisceration of a fictional British Prime Minister addicted to deceit which was clearly based on Tony Blair.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t want to know what happens in the The Swinger<\/em>, stop reading now.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how to review this book without giving away the plot.<\/strong><\/p>\n

OK<\/p>\n

We have in The Swinger<\/em> a coded version of Tiger Woods\u2019 life post-scandal, courtesy of two of Sports Illustrated\u2019s<\/em> finest golf writers, Michael Bamberger and Alan Shipnuck.\u00a0 \u00a0Naming the main character \u00a0\u201cHerbert X. \u2018Tree\u2019 Tremont\u201d signals to readers that their imaginations will not be taxed by trying to break The Swinger\u2019s<\/em> code. <\/em>Tree is a mixed-race golfing prodigy with multiple majors won, an income north of one hundred million a year, and a gorgeous Italian wife named Belinda.\u00a0 He has a taciturn caddy from overseas (a Scot, not a Kiwi), an arrogant lawyer as an agent, and sponsorship by an apparel company with an eccentrically exuberant boss.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re left to guess what the \u201cX\u201d stands for, but on my scorecard, an X means surrender.\u00a0 \u00a0No echoes of Malcolm X and his repudiation of slave names sound in the deliberately race-neutral sagas of either Tiger Woods or Tree Tremont, but a hint of Mandingo lurks in The Swinger\u2019s<\/em> description of Tree.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven from two hundred yards away, Tree Tremont was an unmistakable figure.\u00a0 He was built like a martini glass, with powerful shoulders and a chest tapering to a thirty-inch waist, all of it accentuated by his tight European-cut clothing that Belinda hand-picked for him, as Tree liked to remind reporters\u2026Tree\u2019s stride radiated athleticism, confidence, superiority.\u00a0\u00a0 There was something virile about his presence, certainly for women but for men, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The narrator gushing thus about Tree is Joshua Dutra, a Florida-based sportswriter.\u00a0\u00a0 The conceit of the novel is that Dutra gets hired by the Tremont brain trust to help guide Tree through the aftermath of a tabloid\u2019s discovery that he is not the upstanding family man his PR machine has claimed, but rather a sex-addicted narcissist who lies to his wife as readily as he intimidates his rivals.<\/p>\n

There is a Phil Mickelson character in The Swinger<\/em> called \u201cWill Martinsen.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0He is, no surprise, Tree\u2019s biggest rival.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cBig Herb\u201d\u2014Herbert X. Tremont, Senior\u2014stands in for Earl Woods.\u00a0 Some golfers appear in the novel under their real names, echoing a favorite technique in the fiction of E. L. Doctorow\u2014 Zach Johnson, Jack Nicklaus, Corey Pavin and Luke Donald are among the famous players making cameo appearances as themselves.\u00a0\u00a0 This pumps up the verisimilitude while providing a virtuous counterpoint to Tree\u2019s scandalous conduct.<\/p>\n

The sportswriter\/narrator\u2019s first person account provides an insider\u2019s view of Tree\u2019s self-inflicted wounds and self-destructive fall.\u00a0 \u00a0Dutra even accompanies Tree to his stint in rehab for sex-addiction therapy.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Tree is also hooked on a variety of pain-killers and performance enhancers.\u00a0 \u00a0He is not a sympathetic guy, with his yachts and his sycophants and his lies.<\/p>\n

Then something curious happens.\u00a0 Tree and Dutra\u2019s business relationship somehow segues into something resembling friendship, and Tree\u2019s rehab succeeds.\u00a0\u00a0 His therapist is drawn with sympathy and grace, and an Oprah episode breaks out on a Jerry Springer stage.\u00a0\u00a0 The vinegar turns to syrup, and the narrative abandons anger and parody for the sweet prospect of redemption.<\/p>\n

The Swinger<\/em> is fun to read, even after it takes its earnest turn and stops dishing dirt.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As with all successful romans \u00e0 clef<\/em>, it keeps the reader on his toes, looking for plausible clues about what Bamberger and Shipnuck must really<\/em> know that lies hidden behind the burlesque.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0If pro golfers were readers, The Swinger<\/em> would surely find a receptive audience among them.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0 as much as I enjoyed The Swinger<\/em>, I found this counter-version of Tiger\u2019s life\u2014and especially one that ends with the Tree character turning into a nice guy, a kind of St Augustine of the links\u2014as incomprehensible as the true story of Tiger Woods’ fall from grace.<\/p>\n

JS<\/p>\n

Michael Bamberger and Alan Shipnuck, The Swinger<\/em>. \u00a0Simon and Shuster, July, 2011.\u00a0 254 pp, $25.00.<\/p>\n

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